New Tank Build- From Scratch. Step by step. All things considered

skebo

skebo

Blenny
M.A.S.C Club Member
#141
#141
Thanks Aaron. I plan on eventually using my lr in the dt, and the crushed coral in a sump with no livestock and whatever else I can rob. However I have not yet tweaked to use my bioballs. However I can't use any of it until I can move everything after the cycle.

I just picked up some lr from CRW (150#). Anyone else have some Ro water, or some bio active material such as Lr they can part with at least temporarilly please let me know. I can't check my flow and plumbing until I have these big boys filled. the 150 is half full, and I have a 55g drum of RO water ready. So I just need 250 gallons :)
 
skebo

skebo

Blenny
M.A.S.C Club Member
#142
#142
My hands are all purple. Luckily they are not stuck together. Hoping to be done tonight. Getting out the rum, so its 50/50. Without the rum not likely.
 
SteveT

SteveT

Butterfly Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#143
#143
Wicked Demon;148478 said:
Everybody will tell you there is no benefit to using used water, but I put not only the water but pre-cycled rock, bio balls, sand, and any other media I can, into every build I do.
I recently started a 70ish gallon system-(46 bow with 29 sump)- 2 cups of sand, bio balls, 2 pieces of LR, and 5 gallons of my water= -0- cycle time, no ammonia, no nitrites, no nitrates.
2 weeks later it is stocked, and running with 20+ corals and 8 fish.
Click to expand...
I agree. I have read lots of people saying the bacteria in the water column is negligible, but when I started my 140G frag tank system (90tank/50sump) I did basically the same method. filled it about 75% with water change water from my other tanks, 70LBS of live rock, 2 scoops of sand from the fuge of my 75G. I had about 1 week cycle time, ammonia and nitrite barely peaked and nitrate levels leveled off quick. It has been stable ever since.(about 4 months)
 
skebo

skebo

Blenny
M.A.S.C Club Member
#144
#144
Last pipe run for return pump to the laundry sink to drain water when wanted. Whole can of primer and glue, turned out I did not need the rum. Or should I say..
Lsat ppie rin 4 rIutn pmp to tge um ah um hm.
 
skebo

skebo

Blenny
M.A.S.C Club Member
#145
#145
Ok, so admittedly I did not finish that last run. How can I? It stays closed until I want to drain the tank. Instead I played with my pump and checked the plumbing I could get water to. I used a teel pump to pull water out of the 150 into its own overflows (since water is not high enough yet). Let that drain into the little sump, flow through the linkage and flow over to the pump.

Nice, it primes itself at this level. My manifold for the return has 4 lines. 2 go back to dt. 1 goes to sink unfinished. But the last has a splice and part runs to the big sump and the rest to the 150. So I try to turn on the pump with just the 1 run back to the 150 open.

The lights flickered people. This thing draws 10 amps. I had my hair trigger finger on the surge protector off switch thinking this thing would explode the pvc since I did not have more runs open. Water came out and literally parted the sea with a cascade of pressure. having 75 gallons in so far being pushed aside like air. I was afraid this thing was going to drill a hole straight out the bottom of the tank.

Unfortun my little teel only does 300gph so it could not keep the sump full enough for more than 6-7 seconds before it drained the section with that baffle.

Bulkhead leaked, tightened. Pump leaked. Cleaned gasket. Will check in the AM.

A little help here. What do you call these and where can I find some?
[attachment=61118:name]
 
skebo

skebo

Blenny
M.A.S.C Club Member
#148
#148
Water IS IN! Let it begin.

Major update. We have Water!!! Don't have enough to splice in the 150 yet, but the tank and 1 sump is full and the pump is running. I have to have the pump dump back into the sump so it is not too strong in the dt.

Dumped in a whole bucket of salt into the sump. Want to know what that feels like? Throw $50 in the toilet and flush. Before and after pic attached. I will need 2 more buckets just to start off. Uh well, it will take 3-4 days to fill the 150 up.

Well time to pause for a while. Gotta meeting in the am, in-laws coming in the evening.

Still need....
More Salt.
 
Wicked Color

Wicked Color

Tiger Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#149
#149
Exciting stuff, I hope your using a good salt to start, it will make a difference. Colored sand? just get a mix, and if you want to speed cycle time get some used sand.
 
ShelbyJK500

ShelbyJK500

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#151
#151
skebo;148716 said:
A little help here. What do you call these and where can I find some?
View attachment 5551
Click to expand...
If you're needing loc-line, go straight to the manufacturer. It cost me 50% less than LFS. I still spent nearly $100, but it would've cost me over $200 anywhere else.

http://www.modularhose.com/
 
skebo

skebo

Blenny
M.A.S.C Club Member
#152
#152
majicmike;149027 said:
Did you use R.O. Water?
Click to expand...
Ya, still filling the 150, but have 1 sump and the tank circulating. Once done with the 150 will add to the circulation.

For the record, my ph with the sand is 6. I had to use a freshwater low range ph to get a reading. I used argonite sand and got nothing yet for buffer. If this does not climb up I will use my old CC in the 150 or a sump for the buffer with no livestock so it stays cleaner.
 
MartinsReef

MartinsReef

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#157
#157
Well I have been here along time but take a back seat and watch a lot...........if you catch my drift?

I believe I have 1/2 and 3/4 and some 1" loc line. However the 1" is not loc line brand.

Martin
 
skebo

skebo

Blenny
M.A.S.C Club Member
#160
#160
Wicked Demon;149741 said:
oxygenate the water.
Click to expand...
I have tremendous flow dumping into the sump, so much so that I had to cut a aqrylic sheet to cover the top to keep splash under control. The whole thing just froths in the sump for the first 2 sections. I can adjust these lock lines up a smidge so they gurgle down some air as well but hate the sound and I am still waiting for the tank to clear. Added a bunch of sponges and filters last night, looks so much better today. Is increasing the o2 in the water column supposed to raise ph? Is this temporary in the sense that I don't need to keep those lock lines on the air gurgle?
 
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